1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pad for a baby crib for the purpose of protecting a baby from bumping against the balusters of a baby crib while eliminating the danger of the baby being strangled or suffocated by the pad. More specifically, the present invention is a pad consisting of a plurality of segments that are attached together on the outside of the baby crib and each segment is provided with two or more padded vertical flaps that extend inside the crib between adjacent balusters and are secured around the individual balusters of the crib by fasteners such as hook and loop fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
The current advice of most pediatricians is that mothers not use any type of pads in baby cribs because of the threat of the pad becoming wound around the baby""s neck and strangling the baby or the threat that the pad could fall over the baby""s face and the suffocating the baby. Also, mothers who have both a baby and a toddler worry that the toddler might accidentally dislodge the pad so that the pad falls into the crib on top of the baby.
However, without any type of padding in use on the balusters of a baby crib, babies are in danger of striking their bodies against the balusters and becoming injured. Also, without the use of some type of pad, babies often extend their arms or legs between the balusters where the appendage can become stuck and require an adult to free the appendage.
The present invention addresses these problems by providing a pad that consists of a plurality of segments that are attached together on the outside of the baby crib with fasteners, such as hook and loop fasteners or a tie fasteners, so that if the segments become detached from the baby crib and from adjacent segments, the detached segment will fall outside of the crib where it does not present a danger of strangulation or suffocation to a baby located within the crib.
Each of the individual segments are provided with two or more padded vertical flaps that extend inside the crib between adjacent balusters and are secured around the individual balusters of the crib by fasteners such as hook and loop fasteners. These padded vertical flaps shield the baby from injury from the baby bumping against the balusters of the baby crib. Because each of the flaps is permanently secured along one side of the flap to its associated segment that is located on the outside of the baby crib, if a baby or toddler were able to unfasten one of the flaps on the open side of the flap from its segment, the remaining flaps on the segment would remain fastened around their associated balusters and would prevent the flap from being pulled into the crib a sufficient distance to present a danger of strangulation or suffocation to a baby located within the crib.
Also, if the baby were to unfasten all of the flaps of a segment from around their associated balusters, the segment would be held outside the crib by its attachment to adjacent segments. Because of the location of the segments on the outside of the crib, it would be extremely difficult for a baby located within the crib to separate the segments from each other. On the other hand, if a toddler that was located on the outside of the crib were able to disengage the segments from the crib and from each other, the segments would fall on the outside of the crib where they would not present a danger of strangulation or suffocation to the baby located within the crib.
The present invention is a baby crib pad that consists of a plurality of segments that are attached together on the outside of the baby crib with tabs that include fasteners, such as hook and loop fasteners, so that if a segments becomes detached from the baby crib and from adjacent segments, the detached segment will fall outside of the crib where it does not present a danger of strangulation or suffocation to a baby located within the crib.
It may be necessary to include at least a couple of segments having an odd number of flaps in order to provide a pad that covers all of the balusters of a baby crib when the baby crib is provided with an odd number of balusters on the sides of the crib. Although the drawings illustrate segments having four flaps, the invention is not so limited and the number of flaps employed can be as low as two. Although the present invention can be made as a single segment for each side of a baby crib, it is desirable to have two or more segments along each side of the crib as this allows better air circulation since air can pass between the segments.
Each of the individual segments are provided with two or more padded vertical flaps that extend inside the crib between adjacent balusters and are secured around the individual balusters of the crib by fasteners such as hook and loop fasteners. Each of the flaps is permanently secured along one side of the flap to its associated segment that is located on the outside of the baby crib and an opposite open side of each of the flaps is provided with a fastener whereby the open side of the flap secures to the segment, thereby forming a padded sleeve that extends around a baluster of the baby crib.